Washing apparatus



Nov. 21, 1967 E. A. TAYLOR, JR

WASHINGv APPARATUS Filed Deo, 29, 1966 United States Patent Office pam, NO

3,353,379 WASHING APPARATUS Ernest A. Taylor, Jr., Decatur, Ala., assignor to Monsanto Company, St. Louis, Mo., a corporation of Delaware Filed Dec. 29, 1966, Ser. No. 605,663 3 Claims. (Cl. 68-181) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention provides an apparatus for continuously washing a moving tow. The apparatus is provided with an elongated chamber through which t-he tow and water pass, the tow being flattened and spread to form a thin ribbon. Opposite walls of the chamber are provided with triangular protuberances which defiect the water 'back and forth through the tow from one side of the chamber to the other.

This invention relates to washing apparatus and more particularly to apparatus for washing a moving tow.

In some wet spinning operations the freshly spun synthetic fiber tow is passed through a bath of hot water to remove the residual solvent from the filaments making up the tow. A major disadvantage of this process is that the washing process is somewhat inefficient. This inefhciency apparently stems from the fact that circulation of the hot water around and through the moving tow is poor. Apparently, the wash water clings to the tow to form a boundary layer of water which impedes the washing process. This problem is overcome in the present invention by forcing the heated water to travel back and forth through the tow from Ione side to the other to thereby break up this boundary layer and thereby better expose the filaments in the tow to the hot water. In fact, due to the improved efficiency of this washer, solvent removal may be effected without having to heat the water to the degree ordinarily required, alth-ough heating the water does improve solvent removal and/or reduces water requirements.

One object of this invention is to provide a novel and improved apparatus for washing a moving strand.

Another object of this invention is to produce in a tow washing apparatus a fluid ow pattern that separates the filaments in the tow so that each filament is washed as an individual entity rather than as part of a larger tow.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an apparatus which thoroughly and efficiently washes a tow by forcing water back and forth through the tow from one side to the other to provide intimate contact between each filament in the tow and the high velocity fiuid flow so that the boundary layer of water around each filament is in essence completely removed.

A further object of this inventi-on is to provide an apparatus for washing a moving tow wherein the tow moves through a water carrying passageway in the apparatus, the passageway having on opposite walls thereof a plurality of spaced protuberances which force the moving water to sweep back and forth from one side of the passageway to the other.

Another object of this invention is to provide a washing system wherein the time for the tow to reach equilibrium with the wash water is limited only by the solvent diffusion rate from individual filaments.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a tow washing apparatus having a rectangular passageway through which the tow and water are passed, opposite walls of the rectangular passageway having thereon a plurality of spaced triangular protuberances which cause the water to sweep back and forth from one side of the passageway to the other along a substantially sinusoidal path.

One embodiment of the present invention contemplates a tow washer having an elongated chamber or passageway through which a moving tow is passed. Water is introduced into the cham-her at the mid point thereof and flows outward toward the ends of the chamber. Opposite walls of the chamber are provided with spaced triangular protuberances, the protuberances on one wall being spaced longitudinally from those on the other wall so that the flowing water is forced to sweep 'back and forth from one side of the chamber to the other as it moves therealong. In this manner the water is forced back and forth through the moving tow to provide an eflicient washing operation.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent when the following detailed description is read in conjunction with the appended drawing, in which FIGURE l is a perspective view of one embodiment of the invention with portions cut away to show a passageway for carrying a moving tow and water, and

FIGURE 2 is a cross sectional view taken on line 2 2 of FIGURE l showing the cross sectional configuration of the passageway.

Referring now in detail to the drawing, there is shown a tow washing apparatus having an elongated chamber 12 which has a rectangular cross sectional configuration (FIGURE 2). The ends 13 of the chamber 12 are provided with elongated openings 14 through which a wide, thin ribbon or tow of synthetic filaments 17 are moved, the filaments 17 being advanced by pairs of nipped rolls 18 (only the lower rolls being shown).

The chamber 12 is provided with an inlet opening 19 through which heated water from a supply 20 is forced. The heated water flows from the inlet opening 19 outward toward opposite ends -of the chamber 12 and exits from the chamber 12 through openings 21. The upper sides of inlet opening 19 are sloped so that a narrow orifice is provided for the water to flow through before reaching the chamber 12. This orifice serves to distribute the water from the source 20 to a uniform flow across the width of the inlet opening 19.

From the drawing, it will be readily apparent that the tow bundle 17 travels substantially along the center line of the chamber 12 with the water flowing from the mid point of the chamber past the tow to the outlets 21. In order to force the water to sweep back and forth through the tow from one side to the other, a plurality of spaced protuberances 23 and 24 are secured to the upper and lower walls, respectively, of the chamber 12, each of the protuberances 23 and 24 having a triangular cross sectional configuration.

The upper protuberances 23 are so spaced longitudinally from the protuberances 24 on the lower wall of the chamber that each upper protuberance 23 is at the mid point, longitudinally, between two of the lower protuberances 24. The upper protuberances 23 are also so positioned that one of these protuberances is directly opposite the inlet 19. The protuberances 23 and 24 extend from the walls of the chamber 12 toward the center line of the chamber a suicient distance to leave only a narrow passageway for the fiat bundle of filaments 17. This passageway, which extends between the plane defined by the apices of the protuberances 23 and the plane defined by the apices of the protuberances 24, has a height designated by the letter A.

The protuberances 23 and 24, which are generally triangular in cross sectional configuration, extend toward the center line of the passageway a distance L, the dimension L being 3-12 times the dimension A, with the preferred value being S-SA. The dimension 0 on the drawing represents the included angle between the sides of each of the protuberances 23 and 24 and is in the range of -120" with the preferred value being 60-90. The distance between the center of adjacent protuberances is represented on the drawing by the letter N, the distance or dimension N being 632 times the dimension A with a preferred range of 12-18A. The purpose of maintaining al precise relationship between the various dimension is to insure that the water will pass through the chamber along a substantially sinusoidal path. There is some controlled turbulence lon the downstream side of each of the protuberances but the flow path of the major portion of the water substantially defines a sine curve.

The advantage of this arrangement is t-hat the water is swept back and forth laterally through the tow and yet the protuberances 23 and 24 do not impede Water ow to an undesirable extent.

In operation, the tow, which has been flattened to a wide, thin ribbon of laments is advanced by the rolls 18 through the chamber 12. Water is circulated at high velocity through the chamber 12 as described above. It can readily be seen that the internal conguration of the chamber 12 will cause the water to pass back and forth through the tow from one side to the other, thereby breaking up any boundary layer and thoroughly penetrating the tow to provide a superior washing result.

While this apparatus has been described in connection with washing a tow, it may also be used to treat a tow or fabric with either a liquid or gaseous treating medium. The sinusoidal path taken by the treating medium insures that the material being treated is thoroughly penetrated by the treating medium and yet the flow of the medium is not impeded to any undesirable extent.

It is to be understood that the embodiment disclosed herein may be amended or altered and that numerous other embodiments may be contemplated without departing from the spirit and scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for treating a moving strand, comprising an elongated chamber having therein an inlet open- .ing and an outlet opening, means for forcing a treating medium into the inlet opening and through the chamber, said chamber having on opposite sides of the interior thereof a plurality of spaced protuberances for deilecting said treating medium from one side of the chamber to the other, said protuberances each having a triangular cross-sectional configuration, said protuberances on one side of the chamber being spaced longitudinally from the protuberances on the other side of the chamber in such a manner that each of said protuberances is positioned at the longitudinal midpoint between adjacent protuberances on the opposite side of the chamber, said protuberances having a height L, an included angle 0 and a spacing between centers N, where LISA-8A N 12A-18A 3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the inlet opening is positioned at the midpoint of the elongated chamber and the outlet opening at the ends of said chamber.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,897,122 2/1933 Hartmann et al. 2,558,734 7/ 1951 Cresswell 68-181 3,267,704 8/ 1966 Muller.

IRVIN BUNEVICH, Primary Examiner. 

1. AN APPARATUS FOR TREATING A MOVING STRAND, COMPRISING AN ELONGATED CHAMBER HAVING THEREIN AN INLET OPENING AND AN OUTLET OPENING, MEANS FOR FORCING A TREATING MEDIUM INTO THE INLET OPENING AND THROUGH THE CHAMBER, SAID CHAMBER HAVING ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE INTERIOR THEREOF A PLURALITY OF SPACED PROTUBERANCES FOR DEFLECTING SAID TREATING MEDIUM FROM ONE SIDE OF THE CHAMBER TO THE OTHER, SAID PROTUBERANCES EACH HAVING A TRIANGULAR CROSS-SECTIONAL CONFIGURATION, SAID PROTUBERANCES ON ONE SIDE OF THE CHAMBER BEING SPACED LONGITUDINALLY FROM THE PROTUBERANCES ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE CHAMBER IN SUCH A MANNER THAT EACH OF SAID PROTUBERANCES IS POSITIONED AT THE LONGITUDINAL MIDPOINT BETWEEN ADJACENT PROTUBERANCES ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE CHAMBER, SAID PROTUBERANCES HAVING A HEIGHT L, AN INCLUDED AND $ AND A SPACING BETWEEN CENTERS N, WHERE 